The Very Hungry Caterpillar named Titus

It's PARTY TIME! Titus here are some pics from your first birthday party!

Your invitations were SUPER cute (thanks Aunt Mon). We went with the very hungry caterpillar because well...you are a very hungry little boy. You eat EVERYTHING. Literally. Every. Thing.

So this was appropriate. We kept your party small and invited family only. It turned out great! We loved it and you loved it. 

We kept it small but I still went all out. I LOVE parties AND your baby's FIRST birthday is one of the most important milestones in your life. So although you may not remember it...I will NEVER forget it. AND since there are pictures you will see how special we tried to make it for you.

The place setting was fun. We followed the story in the book. On Monday he ate an apple, on Tuesday 2 pears, on Wednesday 3 plums (plums are not in season so we went with grapes at the last minute), 4 strawberries and on Friday 5 oranges, but as he was still hungry... we added donuts and cake!

We brought in Shipley's donuts - oh how we love these and we also had Starbucks coffee (I already said this party was more for me than you- ha these are all your momma's favorite things!)

We hung lanterns from the ceiling and covered the floor in balloons. I did not do a good job taking pictures sorry!

See the cute food labels Aunt Mon made. Oh I just love how it all turned out!!

Here's your cake. I have to point out that on the back are the 3 plums and also a red apple. They were so cute...I forgot to take a picture of the back. I am so sorry. We were up until 3am making your cake so a few things slipped my mind the next day. but I LOVE how it turned out! The pictures just don't do it justice!

We gave you your smash cake again. You were a happy camper (no really this is you happy) haha Like I've said before you smile and then go back to looking serious in seconds. ;-) I love you.

You did so well. You loved eating all the fruit, the donuts, the crackers and cake. You loved opening your presents all by yourself (your brother was having a sugar high moment and couldn't quite control himself so he was fired from helping you) and you loved all your guests. It was such a special day. Thank you to EVERYONE who helped make this so special. This momma couldn't be more grateful. And a shout out to God for making this day possible. :-)

SMASH CAKE - the actual day

Obviously it takes more than one post to cover all the details of your birthday. Like I said...1st birthdays are VERY SPECIAL!!! (all birthdays are!) Maybe even more special to your momma than to you.

Your grandma Boo and grandpa Kiki were here on the day of your actual birthday and they helped make it extra special too.

We took you to play at the playground inside Milestone church and then we had lunch at chickfila. There was a lady there that overheard you were the birthday boy and she brought you a balloon and your first ice cream. You were a HUGE fan! I wanted to hug her for making lunch so special!

Then that night after dinner we sang Happy Birthday to you and let you dive into your Smash Cake. You cried and cried at first, but once you had a taste of it and realized what it was...you were in heaven. You ate and ate and ate (shocking! haha) and eventually got bored and crawled off in search of something salty under the table I assume. ha!

We opened a few gifts that night too and your favorite present...was the box. Thank you Kiki & Boo for helping make Titus's birthday so fun. The day was PERFECT!

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby Titus.

Titus's FIRST Birthday

Well it's finally here...you're 1st birthday. You are ONE. No matter how much I say it I still can't believe it. You are ONE a big ONE year old!

I cannot believe a year has already flown by and yet I feel like I can't even remember life without you. You are such a sweet part of our lives and we love you so much sweet Titus.

You love climbing and sitting on things and then without notice you tend to fall off (as you did right after the picture above was taken). You are fearless and tough nothing phases you.

You are so easy going and will go with the flow. However, if you want something you are very strong willed and your determination is impressive.

You are sneaky. When you enter "stealth mode" we don't hear or see you until you have already achieved whatever mischief you were set out to accomplish.

Meal times take forever. You could eat all day. We can't wait until you're done because you would never be done.

You pull up on everything and walk "cruise" everywhere but you won't let go.

Your scrunchy nosed smile is one of my favorites. You are always so happy and you love to walk while holding on to our hands unless you think we plan to let go - then you sit down.

You still love to scare us "bah" all. the. time. Your other favorite words are ball, mama and papa.

Your favorite "toy" is the TV Receiver. You get in trouble for touching it probably 7,000 times a day. What is your infatuation with that thing!?! It drives us nuts!

You are our "very hungry caterpillar" you crawl around eating EVERYTHING off the floor. Everything. We have even pulled out a shard of glass from inside your mouth. Like I said. Fearless.

You grunt while you eat if you like what you're eating - and you love all food...so you moan most of the time you are eating.

Your favorite book is "Please Baby Please" and you grunt when it ends until we start reading it over again. Even Tabor can't listen to that book as many times as you can. That's a first!

You LOVE cuddling in your green frog towel after your bath. You insist on standing up during your bath. It is a constant battle trying to get you to sit down.

Your favorite place is Tabor's closet. It's where all the big kid toys are located.

You still sleep with your blanket over your head so we can't see you on the monitor when we check on you. If we pull it off you just put it back on your head.

You LOVE your blanket. You are a little Linus. You suck on it and rub your face in it and carry it around if we let you.

You are very ticklish but you don't like when your Papa tickles your tummy - you try to squirm away.

You do NOT like diaper changes. At ALL.

We could go on and on but this is it. This is a quick snapshot of you as of today. You as a ONE year old. Tomorrow you will learn a million new tricks and something you did today will be a memory from when you were a baby. I can't believe how fast time flies. I know I say it often but it is so true. The hours are long but the years are short. 

I am excited to continue watching as you become a toddler, a "big boy", a young man and someday God willing a godly man. I pray sweet Titus that you grow to love God and that you cherish each day as the gift that it is. We love you with all we have. You have blessed our lives more than we thought could even be possible. It is true that with each child born you are blessed with infinite amounts of love in addition to the infinite amounts you already thought you had. You are a cuddly sweet little boy and a huge part of our lives. Thank you God for entrusting us with Baby Titus and thank you Titus for letting us love you so much. I can't believe you are ONE.

Rockstar Tabor's 2nd Birthday Bash

I can't believe our little Rockstar Tabor is 2. 

 Monica made the cutest posters of our little Rockstar. These are going up in his new room!

Taking these pictures weren't as easy as when he was a baby and had no choice but to pose for me ha! His "attitude" added to the shot though! 

 Monica made Backstage pass invitations that I'm in love with!!

 Thanks to Nona we were able to reserve the perfect birthday spot for a rockstar to practice his rockstar moves with his buddies. It was so much fun!

Complete with a Rockstar Photo Booth (more for Ty than Tabor ha! - I think the adults had the most fun with this)

The water bottles turned out super cute too! (again all thanks to Monica's creative talents)

Love how the Rockstar cake turned out and the microphone cupcakes were much harder than Pinterest led on but thanks to A LOT of help they turned out cute too (and delicious which is all Tabor cared about).

The bounce house was such a blast and it was fun to wear matching shirts that day. Shirts were all ordered from RiverImprints on Etsy. They made Tabor & Titus's shirts even. So cute!

The kids all got guitars, tattoos, and some Gorilla Snot (for their rockstar hair-do) so they could look like true Rockstars while they practiced their moves in the bounce house.

We had stars leading the way to the party. (Can you tell I LOVE the details!)

The setup crew - they were all "with the band" None of this could've been possible without them (and Monica). Seriously thank you to everyone that helped make this possible! I dream big and then get in way over my head ha! Ty & Tim call it The Vortex.

At least we all had a blast and got to enjoy the party!!

A little too much...ha

Tabor's buddies even took some super cute Rockstar pics!

McLain (baby sister Aplin sorta) and Matt & Shayna made for some awesome Rockstars!

Ty & Ryan looking good in blonde wigs.

Raiford, Lindsay and Baby Briggs all Rockin out. Love them!

These little Rockstars actually look like little rockstars! Check out these handsome boys and their precious momma! I love you guys! Michele, Noah & Caleb posing for pics!

Girls shot...aren't we a couple of hot blondes!? (ha maybe we should remain brunette!)

Yay! Girls shots!

I told ya the adults had more fun than the kids in the photo booth!

Titus snuck into the girl shot. All he cared about was eating the microphone though.

Oh there's just too much to love about this pic!

Another sneaky boy...Caleb I see you!

The guys had fun in the photobooth too! What a bunch of good lookin rockstars!

Touchstone men in the photobooth.

Best part...cake time! Cute little Rockstar was so ready for some cake!

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Blowing out candles. Titus is so confused. ha

Chocolate heaven. This kid has my sweet tooth for sure!

Chocolate covered cuties! Love these kiddos!

Sugar high = hard to photograph

Raiford, Braidy, Cape, Tabor, Noah, Quin, Denham, Caleb and Kendall. (Reese, Titus, Shepherd, McLain, Reteif and Leizl aren't pictured)

Cape...there's a little chocolate on your nose. Just a little though.

More party favors...pop rocks. YUM!

Opening presents was much more fun this year! So blessed with such amazing gifts!

This little Rockstar partied way too hard.

This one had the best day of his entire life. He kept playing and playing.

Family shot. As good as we could get at least. Love my boys!

Tabor our lives have been blessed immensely since the day you were born. I never realized how much more love I could feel and yet everyday my love for you grows. You are such a sweet, fun energetic 2yr old! You play hard and sleep hard. We say you're rechargeable.

You love:
1. to dance and sing - usually in a designed dancing area where people are instructed to join you.
2. eat eggs with cheese and bacon (aka slices of ham) - sometimes I can get you to eat pancakes with honey, muffins or yogurt and bananas but usually it's eggs. every. day.
3. wearing socks - you sleep in socks and then ask to keep them on
4. your abc's - it's your obsession seriously you just can't get enough and lucky for us letters are everywhere and you LOVE to let us know every. time. you see one!
5. stuffed animals - of any shape and size. They sleep with you, eat with you, and play with you. They even go on car rides with you.
6. your aden & anais blankets - it's like your pacifier. You can't sleep without one or three in your bed and you suck the tags.
7. reading - you could read for hours. you do read for hours. or until we can't stay awake reading to you anymore.
8. to repeat us - you always have. you will say anything we ask you to say. It's cute. We love getting you to say big words (redundant is your favorite right now) and we laugh because you can't say stool but you can say longer ones.
9. every letter but the letter s - if it is at the beginning of a word you omit it. always. stick, smoothie, stool - we tell you not to forget the s and you say... "ssssssss tool" or ssssss tick" I know this will be forever gone soon.
10. being outside - and it is hot but being cooped up just isn't an option for you.

We love watching you play make believe with your animals - you feed them or instruct them what things are off limits to touch in the house ha. You also love to tell your baby brother no and explain to him what he is doing wrong. All the time. You love standing on him, covering him in blankets, toys, pillows, etc. and you love kissing him, holding his hand and playing peek a boo. It's so much fun to watch you two together. Exhausting because I want to make sure Titus isn't injured in the process but still it melts my heart.

You also spend a lot of time in time out. Sometimes when you don't want to do what we are wanting you will put yourself in time out. You also like to tell us about the time you were in time out. You tell stories A LOT. When your dad comes home from work he will ask what you've done during the day and many times it's a made up story of playing with Aunt Mon, Quin and Braidy and watching Meet the Robinsons. Which happened 1 time and for 10min.

You are such a joy Tabor Nolan. We love you so much. Your "squeezy hugs" make us melt. Along with your pats on our backs and "mama you're so cute" and "papa you're so strong" comments. We love you more than we ever thought could even be possible. Thank you God for entrusting us with this little life.